Wednesday, February 20, 2013

SOAP verses for the day Luke 1:74-79
"...to rescue us from the hand of our enemies, to enable us to serve him without fear in holiness and righteousness before him in all our days. And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him, to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace."
Write down one or two observations from the passage.
1. God doesn't want us to live in fear, nor does he want us to serve Him because of fear.
2. Didn't think about Zechariah prophesying his son's preparing the way for Jesus. I knew that Isaiah prophesied this but not that it was here as well.
3. Taking care of myself and my family is as much a ministry to the Lord as anything! How come I've never really thought about that???
Write down one or two applications from the passage.
1. I need to serve the Lord with joy and not out of obligation, because that is what makes Him happy!!
2. What can I do to shine a light in the darkness for those who don't know Jesus?? Share Him by my actions, at least!!!

SOAP verses of the day: Luke 1:63-64
"He asked for a writing tablet, and to everyone's astonishment he wrote,"His name is John." Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue set free, and he began to speak, praising God."
Write down one or two observations from the passage.
I noticed that the verses say that his mouth was opened and his tongue was set free, as though before he had had multiplie reasons he coukdn't speak...almost as though God set up two ways to make sure he couldn't overcome one!!
Write down one or two applications from the passage.
Zechariah could have let pride and tradition get in the way of God and what he told him to do, since everyone expected his son to be named after him. But he obeyed God, no matter other's expectations. Oh, Lord, that I may have the strength to do the same...

Monday, February 18, 2013

SOAP verses for today are Luke 1:45-50
Write Out Scripture:
"Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!"
And Mary said:
"My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me--holy is his name. His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation..."
Write down one or two Observations from the passage.
I particularly was struck by the part of the passage that said,"...for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant." Of course he is mindful of me, his servant! Sometimes I feel as though I am alone, but He is ALWAYS mindful of me. He knows what is going on with me whether or not I am filling MY mind with his presence!
The other observation I have is the verse,"His mercy extends to all those who fear him, from generation to generation...." I am so blessed to come from Christian families for generations, and His mercy has certainly been extended to me and my family. For that I am truly thankful!!
Write down one or two Applications from the passage.
The applications are from these same verses in the passage. I need to be more mindful of Him at all times. I had an experience this morning to show grace to my oldest child instead of being angry with him, and I thank God for this opportunity. I am really trying to use Lent to give up my tendency to overreact and raise my voice at my family. Of course, I haven't been perfect with this, but I am MINDFUL of it, and that is making it better day by day. This is an area where I can change my life and start that change during Lent. This same child of mine is trying to change his life by worrying less and trusting God more in a particular area of his life, which again makes me so proud!!! What a wonderful gift he is to me, and I need to celebrate the gift of my children more!!!
Second application: pray for those who have NOT have generation to generation of Christians in their life. I need to pray that those that are the first generation to come to Christ that they can continue to be faithful and witness to the generations to come of His grace and unconditional love. I have had it 'easy' in that way....to not have to BUILD the habit of going to church each week...that habit has been instilled in me from birth. I love that my youngest child LIVES each week to go to church, even though he attends daycare in our church building!! He knows the difference in 'daycare' and 'church', and talks about church and his friends from church all the time. I LOVE IT!! I WANT them to grow up loving church and wanting to be there, and I thank God for the opportunity I have each day to share Christ with them!!!
Pray over what you have learned from today's passage.

SOAP verses today are Luke 1:37-38
"...For no word from God will ever fail." "I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered. "And may your word to me be fulfilled." Then the angel left her.
Observations
Mary was in a huge scary situation, and here she was a young teenager, being disgraced and probably being berated by her family, yet she had faith that the angel spoke the truth of the Lord. Oh, to have faith like Mary!!!
Applications
For no word from God will ever fail....but do I always trust that?? Do I give him my full trust, or expect to handle it myself?? I need to totally give everything over to the Lord!!
Did this on Friday but forgot to post it!! Ooops!

Thursday, February 14, 2013

I'm doing a Bible study with my church, but I am so enjoying and getting something from The Word, that I decided to start an additional one with the Good Morning Girls called Living Like Jesus, based on Luke 1-8. There are specific things to do each day, but I am going to post them here instead of printing out paper, to be a better steward of the Earth! I'm not starting on Monday, so I'll have to adjust my days to have my week start on Thursday!
Today's reading is Luke 1:1-25, and the SOAP scripture is Luke 1:1-4.
S stands for write out the Scripture.
Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. With this in mind, since I myslef have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I too decided to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may knwo the certainty of the things you have been taught.
O stands for Observation. Write down one or two observations from the passage.
I had never realized that the letter was written to Theophilus....never read these verses closely, apparently! I alppreciate that these verses were first passed down by those who were eyewitnesses and passed down orally.
A stands for Applications. Write down one or two applications from the passage.
I need to be more diligent about telling the stories of my ancestors to my children, and most importantly, writing them DOWN before they are lost from my mind, and get my parents to tell me stories and write them down as well!
P stands for Pray. Pray over what you learned from today's passage.
Also, while I am writing things, I'll say that I am trying to 'give up' two bad habits during Lent: saying curse words, and raising my voice at my family. So far I've not done the best on raising my voice! I could blame it on the fact that I am in the midst of a horrible fibromyalgia flare and have sick family members on both sides of the family to boot, but that is really no excuse. I can do better, and with God's help, I will!!